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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25021369">The Bench in the Woods</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellanLuther/pseuds/StellanLuther'>StellanLuther</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon &amp; Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Dipper, Alternate Universe - High School, Dipper has anger issues, Internalized Homophobia, Jealousy, M/M, The Pines are Christians, Unhealthy Relationships, and he's repressing a lot of stuff, pinescone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:07:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>959</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25021369</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellanLuther/pseuds/StellanLuther</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper's walks home from school are made more enjoyable when he can admire the boy sitting on the bench in the woods. But when Dipper finds out why the boy is there, his walks home become much more unpleasant.</p><p>(Wirt is 16 and Dipper is 15)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dipper Pines/Wirt (Over the Garden Wall), Wirt (Over the Garden Wall)/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Bench in the Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TW: homophobia/homophobic slur</p><p>i'm only publishing this fic rn to motivate me to work on it more, and seeing as i don't have a plan for it idk what's going to happen, so i'll add more tags and maybe change it a bit as it progresses. please tell me what you think! &lt;3</p><p>also i know this is minor but i don't know anything about robotics and everything i write about it is based off what i know about my schools robotics club so sorry about that</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dipper had seen the boy a few times before. After school, walking through the park on his way home, the boy sometimes sat on a bench, reading a book. He never noticed Dipper, who, as soon as he had seen the mysterious boy for the first time, had taken to sneaking quietly past so as not to disturb his reading. When Dipper passed by the boy, he always made sure to do so slowly, hiding behind shrubbery. He didn’t know why he didn’t want the boy to notice him, but Dipper certainly noticed the boy. The afternoon sunlight always filtered down through the treetops, illuminating the boy’s features. His olive skin and hazel eyes practically glowed in the soft light. His orange sweater with the collar and cuffs of a dress shirt peeking out made him look proper and modest. Dipper had taken to staring at him whenever he passed by, but the boy had never seen him.<br/>
</p><p>The boy always seemed to be alone, but today was different; perhaps because Dipper had taken a while after school and was walking home later than usual. Today, another boy sat on the bench next to him. They sat close to one another, fingers overlaying each other on the seat of the bench. Their faces were close, their smiles warm. They spoke in whispers Dipper couldn’t hear, no matter how hard he strained his ears.<br/>
</p><p>Dipper found himself hiding behind a tree, peeking at them through the brush. This was a spot deep in the park’s forest. Usually, no one passed through here unless they knew about it. Dipper had discovered it years ago while trying to find a quicker way to get home. Ever since joining the robotics club at the beginning of the year, Dipper had been getting home an hour after school ended, and sometimes even later than that. Around competitions, sometimes Dipper didn’t go home at all and just slept at school with his team after working late into the night to perfect their creation. The detailing, the finishing details, practicing, all of it was tedious work, and sometimes it had Dipper stepping out of the room to cool down after something didn’t work out the way he wanted it to. Going home later meant Dipper’s walk home now perfectly intercepted this boy sitting on the hidden bench in the park, and going home even later let Dipper finally figure out the mystery of what this boy was doing here: waiting. It was strange to Dipper that someone would come all the way out to the middle of the forest just to read. Now it was clear that the reading was just to pass the time as he waited for someone else.<br/>
</p><p>As Dipper watched the boys, their whispers turned into breathless laughter, and their faces grew ever closer. Their heads tilted, and Dipper held his breath as their lips met. It only lasted a second. They pulled away slightly, smiling at each other, the tenderness in their expressions almost sickening. And then they went in again, slowly. Then their hands began to wander, and so did Dipper’s mind, though his eyes stayed attached to the scene before him, soaking in every second of it. This was the kind of thing Dipper had only ever read about or imagined, or even once seen in a movie that he had found on YouTube and had quickly deleted from his watch history as soon as it was over. This was the kind of thing that he often had dreams about, and woke up feeling ill over. This was the kind of thing that his family scorned and mocked over Thanksgiving dinners or on Facebook, especially back in 2015. This was the kind of thing that the pastor at church said was a sin. This was the kind of thing that deserved to be hidden away in a forest. This was the kind of thing that Dipper could never have. It made him sick, but he couldn’t look away.<br/>
</p><p>Dipper knew that every second he kept watching was another step closer to hell, but he couldn’t help it. This was everything he wanted. This was the gorgeous boy in the forest, who Dipper had admired for weeks, living Dipper’s dream. And what really got Dipper, what really pissed him off, was the fact that the boy in the sweater was his. Dipper was the one who saw him almost every day and dreamt about him in class. Dipper was the one who blew off his friends after school on nice days just so he could catch a glimpse of the boy while walking home. Dipper deserved him so much more than this wretched faggot who was trying to stray him from the divine plan. Dipper balled and unballed his fists rhythmically as he watched, trying to keep his breathing steady. He couldn’t afford to be seen, but he didn’t want to let this go on any longer. Slowly, Dipper stepped away. The boys on the bench were too engrossed in each other to realize anyone was there. Dipper wanted them to be more careful, but he thought it would be better for himself in the end if the two of them were too afraid to return to this spot again. It was obvious that they came to this hidden bench in the forest because they wanted to hide their sins from the world. Dipper wanted to respect that, but it was difficult, especially when no one he cared about would respect him if they found out he was doing the same thing. Dipper took another step back, and another, until he couldn’t see the boys anymore. Then he turned and headed home. He had a lot of thinking to do.</p>
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